Quality and safety of Council homes rated 'good'

High Peak Borough Council has been awarded a consumer grading of C2 by the Regulator of Social Housing - one of the first Councils to receive a rating following the Regulator's powers coming into force on 1 April this year.

The Regulator was created to ensure a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants by regulating landlords to drive improvements in how they operate.

The Council was inspected against its customer service standards that state the outcomes landlords must deliver against.

A C2 rating - the second highest available - means that the Council is delivering most of the requirements and identifies some areas where improvement is needed.

The Regulator highlighted that outcomes across the main health and safety compliance areas are good and that an effective, efficient and timely repairs service that performs above our service standards consistently is being delivered.

Council Leader, Councillor Anthony McKeown, said: "This is a fantastic result for our first grading, especially given how recently the Regulator introduced the inspection regime to Councils.

"It's reassuring that the investments we have been making to improve the quality and safety of homes, together with the improvements to our repairs service through the creation of Alliance Norse, has been recognised by the Regulator.

"We are looking forward to working with the Regulator, our tenants and partners to demonstrate how we have made changes in areas where further improvements have been highlighted, along with continuing to improve and develop the service overall."

Areas identified for improvement include improving and sustaining the recent investment the Council has made in tenant engagement by implementing the actions we have set in place.

It also highlighted the need to ensure our complaint handling gives tenants sufficient opportunity to report complaints, and how the Council resolves and learns from the information provided.

The Regulator recognised that work was already underway to improve these areas.

Fiona Sloman, Executive Councillor for Housing, added: "This result is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and partner agencies in ensuring our homes and communities are managed proactively and effectively."